Usually, I just posts highlights of the reports from Mark Bachman from Auriga, but this morning decided to just publish in full. Thoughts?
As the second act of the Italian solar drama begins, we look at the bear argument of "too much 2012 capacity leading to uncontrollable price and margin declines." At the risk of starting a larger food fight, we provide our view on how industry capacity develops and show that actual shipments end … Read the rest
Suntech Power (STP) has been donating solar power on a small scale to schools, community centers and even a base at the bottom of Mt Everest in Tibet for many years. Yesterday they announced a larger scale 10MW solar project in
Chek Kang village more than 13000 ft above seal level which will provide 20,000MWh of clean energy per year. The solar power will ease pressure on diminishing hydroelectric resources which become less dependable due … Read the rest
Suntech Power (STP) signed a deal with Sempra Energy worth a few hundred million to supply 150MW in solar panels for Sempra’s Mesquite 1 solar project in Arizona. Sempra had used First Solar’s thin film panels in the past so this is a big win for Suntech’s technology. The company recently opened a plant in Arizona to manufacture solar panels, but they indicated that most of the panels will come from China. Last year Suntech … Read the rest
Everybody wants to get in their predictions for the year and Barclays Capital is providing its thoughts on the solar industry as well according to Barrons. Analyst Vishal Shah notes that the fundamentals were much better than expected last year, but could come under pressure particularly in the second half of the year. He mentions that in order for the solar market to thrive again, US and China demand will need to pick up … Read the rest
Earlier today I posted a summary of Auriga’s bullish outlook on solar stocks for 2011. According to Barrons, Credit Suisse has also posted their outlook for solar stocks this year, but is less bullish. They have a cautious view in the near term and a Market Weight rating on the sector.
Auriga commented on the elasticity of the solar market where demand picks up as prices fall. Credit Suisse notes that this has traditionally … Read the rest
Shares of Suntech (STP) are continuing to build on last week’s strength after the company increased guidance for this year and next. They now expect 2010 revenue of $2.78 – $2.83 billion which is ahead of the Street estimate of $2.7 billion. For 2011, Suntech expects to ship at least 2.2GW of solar products and generate revenues of $3.4 billion to $3.6 billion. The Street was estimating $3 billion. EPS is estimated to be $1.40 … Read the rest
The number of bearish solar analysts have been growing lately with many of them concerned about supply rapidly outpacing demand for 2011, but I’d have to agree with Motley Fool that if you believe anything the CEO’s of the solar companies are saying, demand will continue to be strong. Granted, many of these solar firms are continuing to ramp capacity at an extraordinary pace, which exposes them to significant risk. I’m probably somewhere in the … Read the rest
This morning I posted the concerns out of Credit Suisse and Axiom Capital that solar companies are adding too much capacity when demand is expected to soften. I think part of the reason Suntech Power (STP) is under pressure this morning is the announcement they are adding 375MW in capacity with the full acquisition of Glory Silicon Technology, of which it current has an investment in.
==> Click Here For Your FREE Daily Suntech Technical … Read the rest
Suntech Power (STP) continues to get punished and is testing the yearly lows today after reporting earnings that were shy of analyst estimates on the EPS side. The company reported an EPS of .18/share vs the analyst estimate for .23 on revenues of $744 million vs the analyst estimate of $713 million. Gross margin slipped sequentially from 18.2% to 16.4% due to a decrease in ASP.
===> Click Here For Your FREE Suntech Power Technical … Read the rest
According to Barron’s, Credit Suisse is out this morning downgrading several solar stocks due to concerns about oversupply and softening demand next year. Analyst Satya Kumar sees new capacity of 2GW/month this quarter with an overall increase of 50% next year while demand remains flat. As a result, pricing could decline quicker than expected.
He’s downgrading six solar stocks, all of which are under pressure today.
Outperform ==> Neutral: First Solar (FSLR), Trina Solar … Read the rest